3 My name is not hamburger Ring said If you want to go outside all you have to do is say outside You don’t have to shout Boo continued preening Ring smiled I know that all you’re probably hearing in your parrot brain is blah blah blah But for your information you nearly ruined my day by waking everyone in the house Everyone included Dr Jane Wilde Ring’s wildlife conservationist mother Dr Jack Wilde his father the Wilds owner director and chief veterinarian Asia his bossy thirteen-year-old sister and Greta Krause their German housekeeper and cook who ran the house with an iron fist Any one of them would have stopped him from leaving To say nothing about the fussy Professor Bob Ring and Asia’s full-time tutor and part-time nanny who lived in a guest pod thirty feet from their house The Wilde family had been back at the Wilds for two weeks Professor Bob had mentioned at dinner the night before that he wanted Ring and Asia to resume tutoring in the morning Ring had quickly changed the subject by asking his dad how the vaquitas were doing Dr Jack launched into a long summary of the vaquitas medical conditions and treatment plans There was no mention of tutoring again which gave Ring the perfect opportunity to claim that it had slipped his mind if someone asked One The WILDES
4 of his favorite excuses for avoiding something he didn’t want to do There were four ways to get down to the Wilds He could take one of the electric carts parked in front of the house he could bike he could walk down the steep twisting trail or he could take the four-hundred-yard zip line by far the fastest way down and Ring’s favorite He buckled into his harness clipped onto the line and stepped into the void Boo jumped off the rail locked his wings and soared next to Ring during the forty-five-second zip They landed at the commissary where the animals food was being carefully prepared by the nutritional staff some of whom had been there since 4 00 a m As soon as Ring landed Boo flew off into the park to visit his animal friends whom he hadn’t seen in months Ring unclipped and climbed down from the commissary roof to the loading dock Keepers were filling their electric carts with food trays boxes of vegetables fruits meat and hay and sacks of grain to take to their animal areas A couple of the keepers asked if Ring needed a ride anywhere They were probably hoping he might give them a hand with their duties which he often did A flu virus was running through the Wilds and they were short-staffed Not today Ring told them I’m going to walk around stretch my legs play tourist I haven’t checked out the collection since we got back to town CAPTIVITY
5 All of that was sort of true But the real reason he didn’t want a ride was that he wanted to bypass the CCTV cameras scattered around the park He didn’t want to be found Asia Wilde heard Boo’s hamburger yell but ignored it She hadn’t slept well and was in no hurry to get out of bed This wasn’t unusual She had struggled with insomnia her whole life because she couldn’t shut down her busy mind Closing her eyes seemed to accelerate her worries and thoughts She lay in bed thinking about what she would do after tutoring Professor Bob had told them to prepare for a long day of hard work because he would be at the house bright and early to resume their studies Ring would no doubt try to squirm out of it using his familiar excuse Sorry it slipped my mind She needed to get out of bed and grab him before he disappeared into the Wilds Her little brother was having a hard time accepting the fact that they were back in captivity Professor Bob meanwhile had reverted to his professorial strict tutoring captive self He hadn’t been back at the Wilds more than a day before he shaved the bushy black beard he had grown in the Amazon and got rid of the frayed shorts ratty T-shirts and battered sandals he had worn in San Felipe Mexico He no longer looked like a pirate or beach bum He had transformed back into The WILDES
6 Dr Robert Philby PhD wearing crisp long-sleeved button-down shirts sports coats creased Polyester gray slacks and sensible black polished shoes The sunburn he had gotten in San Felipe had faded His complexion was pallid again the color of an egg salad sandwich Asia threw off her blankets got dressed and walked down the hall to Ring’s bedroom to roust him Waking Ring was like resurrecting a corpse Unfortunately the corpse wasn’t in bed nor was it in the bathroom Asia hurried down to the kitchen which was the only other place Ring would be if he was still in the house Greta Krouse was there making a pot of coffee but there was no sign of her brother Have you seen Ring And a guten morgen to you Greta said in her heavy German accent She was always a bit rigid and formal Sorry Greta Good morning I didn’t mean to be rude Is okay I have not seen the brother I have seen no one Greta opened the refrigerator and peered at the shelves for a moment But the Ring he has been here I can see that by what is missing Bologna cheese bread slice of the apple pie three pops the chicken drumsticks and the disgusting box of the worms he calls the night crawlers Which meant that Ring had jumped off the deck and Asia had a pretty good idea of where he had gone the little sneak and how long he intended to be off-grid By the CAPTIVITY
